


Boundaries and Borderlines

by Talik_Sanis



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Anxiety Disorder, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Consent Issues, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Protect my precious cat son, Rape/Non-con Elements, deliberately ambiguous tagging, salt salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talik_Sanis/pseuds/Talik_Sanis
Summary: Ladybug encourages Chat Noir to experiment with their relationship dynamic, failing to recognize his many lingering scars. She is, as ever, blinded by the sunshine.Missteps on both their parts lead to a conversation regarding the kind of partner whom Ladybug truly needs, and the one she wants to be.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 41
Kudos: 102





	Boundaries and Borderlines

**Author's Note:**

> But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

A great puff of air burst from Ladybug's lungs as Chat's much thicker frame drove her back into the brickwork of the entryway to the building below them. The heated press of his body sent a jolt of something akin to pain through her ass and spine when he jerked upwards, slamming his hips against hers.

“Well, my Lady, I've finally got you where I want you,” he growled into her throat, voice all gravel, hiding his toxic green eyes from her.

“Chat, _please_ don't do this,” she begged while squirming, trying feebly to push him back, delicate and tiny hands to his chest. The gleam of moonlight across the fine piping of his costume enhanced the definition of his musculature and made her feel small. “I don't want this.”

“Do you think I ever cared about what you wanted?” he chuckled while enfolding her wrists with his massive paws, angling his claws to be certain that they wouldn't pinch her.

“No- _please_!” Could her eyes ever convey the proper terror?

Muscles in her arms bunched up and her shoulders rolled when he pinned her hands above her head and brought his body flush against hers.

Only training and practice allowed her to school her features and keep the surprise from showing on her face when she felt nothing between his legs.

Then she saw his eyes at last, blown wide, his gaze roving as if he couldn't even stand to look at her, and the wavering grin that was meant to be feral, sneering, uncaring. 

“Pineapple.”

He deflated and pulled back immediately, his legs like those of a drunken man who couldn't even support himself.

“Oh, God, Ladybug!” he veritably shrieked while his hands trembled, jerking forward and back as if he was desperate, and too desperately afraid, to reach out to her. “What's wrong? D-did I hurt you? I-”

She pressed her index finger to his lip.

“Not even a little bit, Kitty,” she murmured and patted him on the cheek, his skin hot and soft even through her glove. “You were careful, and very gentle.”

“Then what is it?” His throat undulated. “Was I not doing something right?”

“You were wonderful. That's not why I wanted to stop,” she affirmed, brow pinching up. “Are _you_ alright?”

“Just- just give me a minute. I- I'll get it right after I calm down.” He cleared his throat once, and then twice. “I promise I'll get it right.”

“Adrien, no,” she said, trying to mingle Marinette softness with Ladybug authority to dubious effect while drawing his head down to her chest to cradle him. He snuffled into her breasts, and together they sank down to the rooftop. “I don't want you to do anything you don't like.”

'”I'm okay.” The high-pitched whisper made it sound like he was trying to convince himself of that as he pasted on some distorted parody of his model smile.

Struggling to keep a frown from crossing her lips, she repositioned his head in her lap, his body melting and contorting so that he curled up. The silky strands of his wild blond hair parted in her fingers as she eased her hand over his head in a light, even series of pets.

“Adrien, I need to be able to trust you to tell me the truth- to trust that your yes really means yes and you're not just saying it because you want to do something to make me feel good.”

“I- I really thought that I could do it,” he offered in a pitiable, nearly servile mewl.

Her fingers stiffened up into talons. “But you didn't want to, and you tried to hide it from me.”

“I'm sorry,” he whimpered, body flopping and mechanical like a broken wind-up doll.

“No, Kitty,” she corrected softly. “ _I'm_ sorry. I should've seen that you weren't comfortable with this. I was the one who pressured you into it. I'm not angry.”

“You asked,” he said, trying to defend her from herself, to take the blow just like he always did, even going so far as to catch her fists when her spiral of fears led her to pummel herself. “You didn't do anything wrong. I told you that it was okay.”

“Yes, but if I was listening, I would have _heard_ you saying no.” It felt like her throat was closing up. She didn't deserve her kitty.

“I'm sorry.” His nose pressed into her belly as he sucked down great breaths, taking in her scent.

They really had to work on his tendency to default to self-recrimination. He embraced guilt like it was a child's comfort blanket, as if it was all that he knew and all that could keep him safe. With his ~~father~~ sperm-donor, it probably was.

“Chat, what would you do to protect me?” Her thumb dipped into his leather cat-ear, teasing at the soft inner “flesh” that he could still feel.

“Anything, my Lady!” he said in a rushed and breathless whisper-scream. “I- I'd die for you!”

She locked eyes with him, made sure that he was looking and seeing and listening. “Then I need you to tell me the truth, okay?”

“What?”

“Because this _hurt_ you,” she clarified, cupping his cheek, “and there's nothing in the world that hurts me more than seeing you in pain.”

A wave of needles dug into her gut when he looked up at her, lip very nearly quivering, like he couldn't quite understand what she was saying. The tightening of his face and watering eyes made her think of a fumbling toddler who woke his mother while trying to clamber into her bed after having a nightmare.

"Can we-" he hiccupped to a stop and turned away from her, focusing on the Parisian skyline. Not on her. A few watery sniffles simply broke her heart.

To comfort both of them because, thoughtless, _she_ had been the nightmare, and the very idea had flames licking at her throat as she teared up, she smoothed gentle fingers along his jaw and coaxed him to look her in the eyes. Her sweet kitty gazed up at her from her lap, and she hoped that all he could see was tender affection and patience and not self-loathing that he could so easily misconstrue.

"Anything you need, Kitty,” she said, stroking his throat. “You just say it."

"Can we go to your room and – and just cuddle?" He sounded like asking for that was – was something filthy. Like he didn't deserve to be able to ask.

"All night, Kitty,” she assured gently. “We'll get some cookies and cuddle and watch any anime you want."

He sniffed again and blinked rapidly, clearing away tears.

"Even – even Amaama to Inazuma?" he asked in a soft voice, looking up at her hopefully as if the slightest indulgence – even a single word from her – could plaster over every scar, and still-festering wound, and fear and make everything alright again.

She disliked that anime because it was just pointless fluff, but the tremble to his lip as he clamped his teeth down on it to try to keep it from shuddering – to try to make her think that he wasn't really that badly hurt – made her hate herself more than anything in the world at that moment.

"Yes, Kitty,” she said with a soft expression just for him, even though she didn't feel like _she_ had the right, bending down to kiss him between the eyes. “Even _Sweetness and Lightning_."

His smile was like fragile butterfly wings bent and broken but still blooming with beautiful colours. The little bug tried to learn how to fly again after having been half-crushed by a thoughtless child's clumsy hands, drawn in by the little winged painting only to rend it.

In her warm and safe attic room, stuffing themselves with cookies, they watched anime and cuddled until both of them fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously the "rape-play," "explicit consent," and "safewords" tags should also apply here. Also, "Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug/Help." 
> 
> So, I'm not salty about all of the "Chat Noir is a sexual predator who not only fails to respect Ladybug's boundaries but even tries to force himself on her and was never meant to wield the Black Cat miraculous in the first place and as a result is going to be replaced" fics. [That subject is quite well addressed, I think, in this article linked by SteelBlaidd from the miraculous fanworks discord.](https://greyfandoms.tumblr.com/post/142464758774/luanna255-acharmingnotion-i-can-get-up)
> 
> Not salty in the least.
> 
> I think you're projecting, said Gabriel Agreste as he tried to gaslight you just as he does his son. 
> 
> Because canon Chat Noir would break down into a blubbering mess at the very thought and even then would still try to cover the fear and sheer abhorrence at the idea in order to give Ladybug exactly what she wanted at the slightest intimation. He has been conditioned to do so by continual gaslighting and punishment for expression of his own desires and emotional needs by his father. 
> 
> Ladybug also occasionally has difficulty recognizing the times when Chat Noir is lying to her or projecting a false front. 
> 
> Get Adrien Agreste therapy, please. 
> 
> Also, Emilie, if and when you wake up, please make certain that your husband will never be able to inflict himself on another child. 
> 
> Help control the stray cat-son population. Have your Papillon spayed or neutered.
> 
> Finally, a representative example of Chat's requested Anime: [Amaama to Inazuma or Sweetness and Lightning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N0YLRunmEQ&t=1s&ab_channel=CrunchyrollCollection) (You may begin to suffer from the effects of a sugar rush after watching the clip, given its sweetness. Consider it a palate cleanser after the angst and salt above.)


End file.
